Crystallized Heart
by Kish's Kittie
Summary: Ryou has always made Ichigo's life worse with his constant remarks and making her work overtime. But, what happens when Ichigo makes a remark that she regrets? And what will happen when he ends up in the hospital, and perhaps, even on his death bed? RxI.


**A/N: It feels so good to write again! Sorry I haven't been on a lot lately; first, I took a little break, and then I got grounded... so yeah. I wrote this to kick start my writing again, and I am currently working on chapter eight of "The Alien or The Blondie 2", so be on the look out for that update. Anyway, go on and read!**

**Crystallized Heart**

_The Story of Ryou and Ichigo_

* * *

Ichigo sighed as she sat with her knees dead against the carpeting of her isolated room. Her chin rested against the palm of her hand as her elbow held itself up by the inside of the window ceil. Her chocolate eyes seemed fixated on the outside world—outside of her window. Motionless, she had sat in that same position for what seemed like endless minutes that still continued. Why she sat in that position was still a mystery, even to her.

Ichigo, finally contacting with movement, resituated herself, overlapping her arms on top of each other and resting her left cheek on them. Staring across her room she let out another relentless sigh. She seemed almost lost, or caught within her own mind—thoughts.

Chirping then sounded outside of her room; birds had landed in the tree just in front of her bedroom window. Ichigo turned her head and let her chin sit on top of her folded arms. Subtly, she blinked her eyes as she focused them on the joy of the birds. They were little blue jays that had come to make their nest in her tree; twigs, branches, and mud were all gathered to help the process. There were two at the time—perhaps the male and female. The catgirl watched as they began to fit the pieces together; it looked nowhere near a bird's nest, but just a big clump of mess—like a large wad of mud after a heavy rain mixed with fallen branches and drowned worms. Ichigo began to wonder how such a clutter could become something so perfected by Mother Nature…

_Ring, ring!_

_Ring, ring…_

She lifted her head from her folded arms as the ringing of her phone sounded. Slowly, directing her attention away from the window, she stood up from the carpet, her knees looking bruised from the resting of them against the carpet. Then, she walked over to her desk where she had laid down the phone and watched it for a few seconds as it rang in front of her. She finally reached down and grasped it in her hand, then holding it against her ear as she clicked the _talk _button.

"Hello?" she answered. "Oh, Shirogane—what do you want?" Her once subtly emotionless face turned to almost a scowl within an instant's time. "But it's Sunday! I shouldn't have to work on my day off! What about the other girls! – This is so not fair, nya!" She then hung up her phone and slammed it back down against her desk; only Ryou could really have that kind of effect on her.

Angrily, she crossed her arms and grabbed her bag that had been resting upon her unmade bed, and headed out of her bedroom door, only to slam it behind her. As her shoes clacked against the stairs on her way down, her mother heard her and peeped her head out from the kitchen.

"Are you going somewhere Ichigo?" Her mother asked not out of worry, but simply out of curiosity—it seemed to be her nature.

"I have to go to work again," she answered groggily.

"But I thought you didn't work on Sundays."

"Yeah, I thought so too," Ichigo, sighed as she walked out of the house, closing the door as her mother gave a slight wave to her back…

* * *

"What could it be this time?" Ichigo asked herself. "I swear he lives to torture me! What else would his life be dedicated to? I mean come on! He lives in a pink café!" Ichigo crossed her arms becoming even angrier by her self-talk.

She sighed of annoyance as she walked up to the Café Mew Mew doors. She placed her hand on the doorknob and opened it, walking in to find a blond standing in front of her. Closing the door as she entered, she narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you want Shirogane?" she asked.

He handed her a broom. "Sweep." He stated and began to walk off.

"Hold on a second!" Ichigo waved her arms in the air, the broom still at hand. "I didn't come all the way here on a Sunday just to sweep! I thought it was an emergency!"

Ryou stopped and turned around to face her, already a bit of a distance ahead of her. "It _was_ an emergency—it's my day off to relax and _someone_ had to sweep the floors." He shrugged.

"Shirogane," she grinded her teeth and clenched her broom tightly as she muttered his name under her breath. He turned his back to her as he walked off into the kitchen.

Ichigo cursed under her breath as she began to sweep…

* * *

Some time had passed and Ichigo finally finished sweeping the floor… and mopping them… and cleaning the tables—_and _washing the dishes…

"Are you finally finished?" Ryou approached her.

"No thanks to you baka," she remarked.

"Okay—you can go," he stated bluntly.

"I can _go_?" She sat down her rag at hand and crossed her arms. "I have a bone to pick with you," she began. He raised an eyebrow as a sigh escaped from his lips. "Why have you been picking on me lately—even more than usual? What the heck is your problem!"

"My problem is you _still, _continuously coming in late," he replied.

"You know what I think your problem is?" Her anger had reached an all-time high.

"What?"

"I think you're just jealous of me!"

"Really?" He almost let out a laugh. "Why's that?"

"Just because your parents are dead and mine aren't!" She yelled.

Silence befell the room. Ichigo's scowl soon softened and turned sympathetic. "I-I didn't mean to—"

"Just go home Strawberry…" His voice said softly as he exited the room, leaving her to herself. She slid down the wall until her bottom met the floor, and she just sat there.

"Maybe I shouldn't have said that," she whispered.

Silently, she stood up to her feet and walked through the room until she came to the door. She turned her head back for a moment to take an overall look of the café. Then, she turned back and left everything to its lonesome…

* * *

Ichigo arrived back at her house and realized it was almost dinnertime; however, she didn't feel all that famished. Looking straight ahead, she made her way up the stairs and into her bedroom where she could be by herself.

She laid herself on her bed and weaved her fingers between each other, laying them on her stomach. She closed her eyes as a sigh bellowed from her mouth. _I wonder—if maybe I should apologize for what I said, _she thought as her body and mind began to grow in fatigue. _I will—next time I see him… if he'll even speak to me… _She opened her eyes for a moment and stared at the ceiling as she laid quietly on her bed, basking in her thoughts. _Maybe I said that because I was just overwhelmed… I mean, he was being mean to me, and not to mention what I've been through these past few weeks—or months, rather… Aoyama-kun moving was the hardest thing I've ever had to go through… _She closed her eyes again to only stare at the embodied blackness of the inside of her eyelids. _After I sleep, maybe I'll be able to think clearer…_

She turned over on her side facing the wall with her hands tucked underneath her head as she began to drift off to sleep. A straight line kept itself upon her lips, as she lay there motionless…

* * *

_Crrr-ack!_

Ichigo's eyes shot open at the sound of a terrible thunder. She looked over and noticed she had left her window open, and rain began to shoot through, causing her carpet to moisten. Quickly, she hopped out of bed and pushed down her window, closing it to the outside. She stopped for a moment as she listened to herself breathing heavily, her hands still held on to the window. The roar of thunder had startled her from her sleep and caused her heart rate to increase immensely.

"I didn't realize I had slept so long… it's already dark, and a storm is already here…" She spoke to herself.

She released her grasp from the window and sat down on the side of her bed. Exhaling her breath, she wiped her forehead with the backside of her hand. She then realized she had been sweating—for how long, she didn't know…

_Ring, ring!_

_Ring, ring…_

Her phone rang from her desk. She swallowed her saliva down her dry throat as she stood to her feet and approached her cell phone. Answering it, she held it against her ear. "Hello?" She paused for a moment as the opposite of a sturdy voice began to talk her ear off. "What? —" Her bottom lip parted from her top as it fell agape. "N-no—that can't happen… how did—" Her hands grew clammy. "I-I will… I'll be right there…" Her words grew monotonous as she finished the last bit of her sentence. She shut off her phone and slowly sat it down against her desk; silence enveloped the room as she stood there with no spoken thoughts or words. She then lifted her head and walked over to her door; she opened it and quietly stepped down the stairs. She approached the front door and opened it to a flash of lightning; rain poured down just feet in front of her.

"Ichigo, where are you going?" Her mother asked from the living room. "It's nearly eight o'clock."

Ichigo said nothing as she walked out of the house and stood outside on the porch for a moment. She closed the door behind her and clamped it in her hand as she kept her arm behind her. She watched as the rain fell without letup in front of her. Licking the dryness from her lips clean, she released her hold on the doorknob and began to dash through the rain. She bowed her chin down and just ran threw the pouring water on her back. She didn't turn around and she didn't slow down—she just _ran_…

* * *

Soaked hair and all, Ichigo stood in front of the doors of the Tokyo Hospital. She placed her wet hand against the glass door and slid it down as she watched people sitting in the waiting room, and secretaries and nurses sitting down behind their computer monitors. Everything in the room looked so untouched; the walls were a pure white color, and the floors seemed to match. The chairs were metal and small, with blue velvet overtaking the seat. Everyone that sat in them just seemed to look so calm in a place where you'd think distress would center…

The catgirl bit her lower lip as she walked through the doors and up to the front desk. She kept her head bowed as water fell from the ends of her drenched hair and fell upon the clean, tiled floors. She stood in front of a secretary sitting behind the counter. Her glasses almost sank as low as the wrinkles in her neck…

"Something I can help you with Miss?" The secretary peeped over her glasses to stare at Ichigo. Ichigo lifted her head a little.

"I need to see—Ryou Shirogane," she stated.

"Let's see here," the lady began to type with her fingers, the clicking of the keyboard sounding through Ichigo's ears. "Go to the hallway on your right and he'll be in room 615."

"Thank you…" The words fell shyly from her lips as she followed the directions of the secretary.

She walked across the room, as everyone seemed to stare at her as she did so. Even the crying baby in its mother's arms seemed to center its attention on her. Were they really, or was guilt just overtaking her? She tried paying no attention as she entered into the hallway on the right. She shifted her eyes continuously to both sides of the hallway as she walked, waiting to find the right room number.

The hallway itself almost seemed endless as sounds around her began to slow down until her own thoughts didn't seem clear to her. She began to breathe harder as the numbers "615" came within sight. Stopping in front of the room, she hesitantly placed her hand on the doorknob and turned it. As she slowly opened the door, its hinges squeaking, five pairs of eyes landed on her when the door opened fully. She gulped.

"Ichigo-san," Mint spoke.

"H-how is he?" Ichigo asked.

Mint's face frowned, and it was enough to answer her question. Ichigo fell silent.

"Ichigo," Keiichirou spoke from the other side of the hospital bed. Ichigo could not see him clearly, as the other mews stood around her side of the bed. She felt compelled to stay where she was and not see what was on the bed. "Ichigo," he spoke again.

"Hai?"

"Come," he stated.

Hesitantly, she stepped forward in the room, walking past the other mews to where Keiichirou was, knelt beside the bed. He stared up at Ichigo with weakened eyes. He then stood to his feet to greet her.

"How did this happen?" Ichigo tried holding back her tears. Keiichirou stared down at the bed for a moment and back at her; she refused to look down—she didn't want to.

"Well—it was about an hour ago," he began, staring into Ichigo's eyes. "He told me he was going out…" Keiichirou looked away.

"Going out where? Wasn't it raining?" She asked.

"Yes but," he paused.

"But what?" She looked at him waiting eagerly for an answer.

"—He said that he was going to find you—to apologize… he said he felt bad for being so harsh on you… he was in a rush and—he was hit…" He stared at Ichigo, waiting for her to say something.

Ichigo directed her eyes down to the hospital bed. Her eyes watered at the sight of the bandage around his forehead and the bruise on his chin. His hair didn't look as bright and golden as usual—it was damp and dirty, and hung low on his face over his closed eyes. She seemed to blink in unison with his heart rate machine.

"Why?" She whispered as a tear fell down her cheek.

"Ichigo?" Keiichirou spoke as she began to step backwards towards the door. Another tear fell from her duct. She shook her head as she rushed out of the room and down the hall… she rushed past the waiting room and the front desk… she rushed past the hospital doors and the people down the street… she rushed all the way back to her house with not one spoken word…

But the thing about running in the rain is—you can never tell when you're crying…

* * *

Ichigo's eyes were fixated on the tree outside of her window as she sat with her knees dug against her carpet, causing her bruises to grow darker. She rested her chin on her folded arms as her tears kept them moist. Shifting her eyes through the rain outside of her closed window, she noticed the bird's nest on the tree. It was finished, and was hidden under the limbs, kept from the rain's damage. But then, where were the birds? Ichigo then looked over to her right and saw one little blue jay huddled against the side of the tree near its nest. Ichigo smiled a bit through her tears. Now—where was the other? Then, a flash a lightning struck and brightened up the area outside of her window. Her eyes were drawn to the ground, only to find a dead blue jay lying on the drenched grass. It's wings sprawled out and it's body inert… Tears rolled over her lips until her smile became nothing but a mere illusion…

Ichigo couldn't take it any more. Her cries became louder as she threw her face against her bed—her tears wetting her comforter. She flattened the palms of her hands against it and grasped it tightly within them. Covered in tears, she lifted her head and stared at her wall. "Why? Why would you do that Shirogane?" She sniffed. "Why'd you have to be such a baka!!"

* * *

_Splish—splash._

Ichigo's feet landed in numerous puddles of water as she ran through the streets while midnight hovered over her. The sight of the hospital became clear and she headed up to the doors.

She swung open the glass doors and ran past the front desk.

"Hey Miss! Where are you going?" The secretary yelled; but Ichigo was already down the corner and in the next hallway.

Her sneakers squeaked with every running step they made. Wet tracks were made all down the hallway. She squeaked all the way to room "615". Then, she immediately stopped in front of the door. She listened to her own heartbeat as it sounded like a thumping rabbit's foot.

_"Just go home Strawberry…" His voice said softly as he exited the room, leaving her to herself. She slid down the wall until her bottom met the floor, and she just sat there._

Ichigo closed her eyes together as more tears formed in her ducts.

"May I help you Miss?" Someone asked. Ichigo opened her watery eyes to a doctor standing in front of her, closing the door behind him; he had just exited from room "615".

"Is he all right?" She asked in a morose voice.

"Well, I think the question would be, _will _he be all right," he replied.

"What do you mean?" She sniffled.

"Well," the doctor placed his clipboard under his arm as he focused his eyes on her. "There's a fifty-fifty chance he'll make it, and there's a fifty-fifty chance that he—well, you know…"

"He's gotta be okay," Ichigo's tears kept falling down her cheeks and dripping from her chin.

"He's in a coma—and he's been like this for hours now… some people have been in a coma for just a few days… and some—years… and then some have just—never woken up." He stated.

"Of course he's going to wake up," Ichigo tried putting on a fake smile, almost trying to fool herself. "Right?" She stared at the doctor with watery eyes.

He avoided her question. "You may go in and see him. His friend fell asleep in the room, and his other friends left a little while ago… you can talk to him if you want. It's possible that he can here you." He patted her on the shoulder as he left her standing there in front of the door. Water dripped continuously from her clothes as the stared up at the numbers above the door. "615" stayed in her head.

_Everything's going to be okay… _She thought as she opened the door to the room. The beeping of the machines were all that could be heard. She closed the door as she approached the hospital bed. She stared down at him and watched as his chest went up when he breathed in and down when he exhaled.

"You're still alive and everything right?" Ichigo started to choke on her words as she talked. "The doctor said that you could hear me… or, that it's possible," she stroked his blond hair; she swallowed her saliva as she continued. "I'm sorry—yep, that's right, _I'm _sorry… you shouldn't have to be Shirogane… why would you try to come to apologize? Why?" She stopped stroking his hair and stared solemnly at his face, almost as if she was waiting for him to reply. But he just lay there, breathing…

"I shouldn't have said what I said to you… I was just so stressed," she bit her lower lip. "But Shirogane," she tried smiling. "When you wake up soon, maybe I can make it up to you…" Her smile soon dropped as more tears rolled down her porcelain face.

She knelt down beside the bed and stared at him at eye level. "Shirogane… just please… say something… call me Strawberry, or even a baka… just please… say something." Her tears stopped momentarily as slight hope grew within her as she stared at his still face.

Then, still, nothing…

"Oh—Shirogane," Ichigo cried as she buried her face in his blanket…

She sniffed as she looked up at his inert, pale face. She stood up from her kneeling position as she placed her hand against his right cheek. She hovered her face over his and leaned in. She stared point blank at his enclosed eyes. One last tear fell from her eyes as she blinked; it landed on his cheek as it rolled down his chin…

Ichigo closed the distance between their faces in a kiss. His lips were dry and a bit cold. Her lips quivered as she pulled away, leaving a bit of moistness on his. She wiped her face dry with her sleeve and stepped away from the bed. She stared over at a chair against the wall where Keiichirou was sleeping soundly. She then looked back over at Ryou.

"Goodbye… Ryou…" Ichigo stated and began to walk out of the room. Closing her eyes, trying to hold in any more tears, she placed her hand on the doorknob and began to turn it…

"Ichigo…"

Ichigo's body became stiff as the voice spoke her name. She turned her head around, only to find Ryou staring back at her with two bright sapphires.

"Shiro—gane…" His name fell from her parted lips…

_The End_

* * *

**A/N: Thought he was dead didn't ya?! Fooled you. :3 I usually kill off the character, but I decided to switch it up this time. Hope you liked it. Go ahead--review. You know you want to. :3**


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